Key Verse: "And a man shall be as an hiding place from the wind, and a covert from the tempest; as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land"(Isaiah 32:2).

Biographers of Fenelon tell us that he lived in such intimate fellowship with God that his very face shone. Lord Peterborough, a skeptic, was obliged to spend a night with him at an inn. In the morning he rushed away, saying, ‘If I stay another night with that man, I shall be a Christian in spite of myself. Someone else said of him, ‘His manners were full of grace, his voice full of love, and his face full of glory.’

Isaiah spoke at length about the expected complete transformation of lives during Christ’s Millennial Kingdom in our text. He compared the nature and character of the unconverted man with the newness of life under Christ’s influence and grace. The world under the Antichrist will be so compromised with evil that the coming of Christ to establish the millennial reign will be a very welcome development. Under the present system, the world is polarized by diverse religions and faiths.

But religion without righteousness has done more harm than good when we look at the present system. The fiercest wars the world has witnessed are the interfaith wars; the greatest threat now to world peace and security is the terror unleashed by religious extremists who go to the extent of killing and maiming as part of their religious duties. Life has become brutish and short in our world today because of the evil the human mind is capable of inventing. Yet, Christ did not die to establish any religion; He died to save mankind and bring about genuine righteousness. The Kingdom He will setup during the millennial reign is not about religion but true worship and righteousness of the transformed man. It is a dispensation everyone should look forward to.

Thought for the day: Christ died to impart righteousness, not to establish religion.

Bible Reading in one Year: James 1-5

DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor William Folorunso Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.